travel

It’s hard to believe I am already in the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy! I remember just a year ago I was preparing for our 1st IVF transfer (which failed) and here I am just 9 weeks away from meeting our baby boy! A couple of weeks ago we decided to do our babymoon in beautiful Hawaii. We love the weather, vibe and food of the islands and since I’m pregnant in the winter, Hawaii was an easy choice for our babymoon. We have been several times to Oahu but this would be our first time to Kauai. My agenda for our babymoon was just to RELAX. The holidays were definitely the busiest for us working in retail and we still have so much to do before the baby comes! So we used this opportunity to take in the beauty of the islands and just enjoy some husband & wifey time before we become a family of 3! I can’t wait to take our son here one day and see him experience the ocean for the first time!

On the last leg of our Southern trip, we took a day trip to Savannah from Charleston. Ever since watching The Notebook, I always wanted to find those grand trees with hanging moss and we ventured to Savannah in search of them and delicious Southern food. Our first stop was downtown Savannah where we walked around the beautiful and historic neighborhoods. We waited in line for an amazing Southern meal at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room. It was quite an experience where you shared over 20 pre-set dishes like fried chicken, cornbread, collard greens, mashed potatoes, etc… in a family style setting. After lunch, we headed to the Wormsloe Historic Site and took advantage of the beautiful scenery as I wore my favorite off-the-shoulder maxi dress. I must say, the 2 miles of lined trees was even more stunning in person. It was worth the 2 hour drive from Charleston to see all the beauty Savannah has to offer!

Last week we visited Charleston for the first time and we found the city to be incredibly beautiful and charming. We loved everything from the food, architecture, hospitality and did we mention the food?! Our vacations are often planned around meals and Charleston did not disappoint with the food scene (see below for where to eat)! We had a memorable time just catching up with our good friends and exploring all of the charm the city has to offer. I would definitely recommend a visit to Charleston and Savannah (they are only a 2 hour drive apart) for 4-5 days to have enough time to see all of the history, landscape and fit in all of the yummy food!

With Summer travel season coming up, I wanted to share a peek into one of the most amazing resorts we have ever stayed at: Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli in Lake Garda, Italy. With its stunning architecture, luxurious accommodations, lakeside location and top-notch service, we understood why this former residence of Mussolini is considered one of the top hotels in the world. I must admit it was a bit of a travel splurge for us but it was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience (although I’m hoping I will get to return). I love sharing in new experiences with the hubs and we had the best time just lounging by the beautiful pool and taking in the breathtaking grounds and scenery. It was the perfect place to relax and just getaway. We traveled with our camera gear since we had just completed a destination wedding in Italy so we made good use of our equipment to capture how gorgeous everything was. We must admit though, everything is even more beautiful in person!!! If you are ever in Italy, we highly recommend taking a trip to Lake Garda!

Greetings from Chicago!!! We took a much needed week off from work this week to visit and eat our way through the beautiful and fun city of Chicago! It’s a bit chillier here but we love experiencing the different seasons and seeing a change in weather and Fall colors. I brought my favorite new coat that I’ve been searching for and I finally found this great fitting camel coat from Topshop at Nordstrom! I’m in love with the gorgeous camel color and how it compliments so many of my closet staples like a simple jean look or my favorite Fall sweater dresses! I love finding so many versatile Fall staples from Nordstrom and having so many lovely layering options.

The hubs and I are off for a weekend getaway to celebrate our 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! How time flies when you are married and having fun ;)! We are headed for a short trip away and I thought it was the perfect time to test out my new weekend bag from Lo & Sons. Not only do I love the design and the gorgeous grey color of the bag, but the functionality of this bag is amazing! There are so many smart compartments to the bag and you can tell every functionality was thought through. The hubs and I travel a lot and I’ve been searching for a great carry-on to carry all of the random things I like to have with me on the plane. I got the the Catalina Deluxe in size Small so it wouldn’t overwhelm my frame. I love how the website shows the three sizes of the bags on three different heights to give you perspective of how the bag will look on you! My favorite part of the bag is the bottom compartment that you can access easily without opening up the whole bag. This is a great place for a pair of shoes, a sweater for the cold flight or a small makeup bag. Lo & Sons has a great video on what to pack in your weekend bag on their site so check it out HERE.

I’m finally putting together a travel diary from our amazing trip to Tuscany! We had been to a few parts of this region before but it was the first time we had time to drive around and just explore the beautiful scenery. I highly recommend renting a car if you travel to Tuscany! One of the highlights was staying at the incredible La Foce for part of the trip while photographing a wedding there. The landscape and architecture were simply amazing and we felt so fortunate to have called it “work”. Another favorite part of Tuscany were when we found the endless sunflower fields right at sunset and just in time to catch the perfect golden light. From rows and rows on, it was an incredible sight to see and capture.

Finally another favorite part of our trip was of course – all of the delicious Italian meals we ate. We tried a local pasta called pici and it was delicious. We had pici at one of our favorite restaurants in Italy called Osteria Acuacheta where you also have to get the bistecca floretina steak. The waiters will bring out a large, raw chunk of meat to show you what you will be eating and then it’s cooked to perfection. Our whole steak dinner with pasta, wine, and dessert for 5 people was under $100. And did I mention we ate a lot of gelato?! At least one serving per day was essential ;).

Here are some photos with related outfit links from our trip. If you want to see the exact location of the shot, head over to my Instagram where I geotagged each photo.

I am turning 1 year older today and as I do every year, I take today to look back on all that has happened before today. This past year has been truly incredible – from enjoying all of the wonderful moments with my amazing husband, traveling to so many incredible places (like the beautiful La Foce in Tuscany), finding a more fulfilling work/life balance and reaching so many goals for my dream of an online shop. I feel like we’ve done so much in such a short time, but it also feels like so much time has passed and there is still yet so much to do. I consider myself an endless dreamer – always envisioning that there’s more ahead. Maybe I’m overambitious, an overachiever as you might say. I like the road more difficult to travel and at this old age (really don’t ask how old), I’m surprised I’m not tired. I feel blessed everyday that I have so many opportunities and blessings in my life. I am very excited for what this year will bring and hope for strength to live everyday to the fullest and without regret. Thanks to everyone who continue to support my blog and believe in me!

I wanted to share these images today because I remember feeling so incredibly lucky the day we arrived at La Foce in Tuscany. We were in awe of what a beautiful place it was and how blessed our jobs of destination wedding photographers had taken us here. Even though my hubs is one heck of a photographer, I feel like these photos don’t even do this place justice. From the scenery to the landscaping to the estate itself, everything was stunning and straight out of a movie. The wedding, couple and guests were amazing and we can’t wait to share those images on our wedding photography site. We had some downtime after the wedding and I got to twirl around the grounds in one of my favorite new maxi dresses from Morning Lavender. I loved this dress so much that I kept both navu and white versions of the dress AND paid my amazing tailor to alter them to fit me perfectly. I raised the shoulders a bit to bring the overall length to my petite height and added a snap button on the front to keep cleavage to a minimum. I am just obsessed with the flowiness of the dress plus the billowy sleeves, gold buttons and gorgeous floral print.

One of my travel goals has always been to visit the amazing lavender fields in Provence! I have this obsession with lavender (as you can tell by my boutique name Morning Lavender), and the husband obliged and let us take a day trip to the south of France in search for this stunning scenery. We took the 3 hour train ride from Paris to Avignon, rented a car, passed through the charming town of Gordes and ended up in Sault 1 hour later where the lavender was endless and the sun was just about the set. It smelled heavenly everywhere and after you got over the fact that there were just as many bees as there were lavender, you realized how lucky you are to experience such a beautiful place. Renting a car in the countryside allowed us to see so much more of Provence and we fell in love with the charm and simplicity of the region. I’d love to go back sometime and see more of the gorgeous countryside!

Paris is one of our favorite cities in the world so the hubs and I always find ourselves traveling back there. We even got married in France! We love taking in the sights, culture, food and just the beautiful architecture. I love the ornate detailing of so many of the buildings and the romantic vibe of the entire city. I combined my love for feminine clothing with the city’s romantic setting and came up with this colorful, feminine look. I wear this lace top often because it goes so great with skirts. One of my favorite ways to wear it is with a full maxi skirt as seen in this blog post. The lace top worked well with my new colorblock midi skirt and I loved all of the pretty colors in one skirt.